Michael Lang -- the Creator and Driving Spirit of Woodstock -- left us on Saturday, January 8, 2022.  We at Talkin' 'bout Our Generation are deeply saddened by this huge loss, but feel blessed to have been able to interview him in September of 2020.  You can listen to that episode, updated, here:

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we talked to people who worked alongside Michael  before and during the event and who continued on as his friends afterwards, we kept hearing about this enigmatic side to Michael that was part genius, part entrepreneur, part good-looking boyish cherub, and part mystery. 

 

Head Crew Cook Carol Green said:  "Michael Lang has this little shining star over him, or he did for a long time, and I hope he still does.  He had this optimism  about everything and a lot of it was just Michael's kind of 'beingness'… "There was just spoken and unspoken agreement that we're going to continue, we're going to make this happen.  Everything was magical about it."

 

Michael was a man of few words.  Photographer Henry Diltz remembers getting a phone call from him in his Laurel Canyon kitchen, lasting about 30 seconds.  "Chip says we need you.  I'm sending you $500 and a plane ticket to New York". Click.  Like Carol, Henry said Michael had a rare presence that he believes was the reason Woodstock happened, against overwhelming odds.  "Every day Michael Lang would come by with his leather vest and either be on a horse, a tractor, or a motorbike. And he was so charming, very cherubic looking. 

 

"And you know, it was his vibe, his vision, his idea that this will be three days of peace and music.   And recently we did an interview together and he said, 'When things get weird, I get calm.' And he was that way."

 

Michael was 77 when he passed away. He was the same optimistic, mercurial leader that he was at 23.    He was a rare soul who radiated calm amid chaos, someone who had a keen ability to tap into the pulse of Our Generation and ride with it, to all of our advantage.  

 

The late Sixties were  a scary time, a time of division, corruption, anger, violence, and fear -- not that much different than our life right now.    Many of us wanted something different, to stop the War, to stop the violence, to respect Nature and protect our environment.  But we did not know how many of us there were.  

 

Woodstock changed that.

 

Michael picked up on that "Zeitgeist" -- that Spirit of Our Time -- and channeled it into that field on Max Yasgur's Dairy Farm.  But Woodstock was much more than a three-day concert.  Together with his incredible crew -- the "Woodstock Family" -- and the amazing musicians who delivered a unified message in their music,  Woodstock brought together half a million young people from disparate backgrounds who discovered that we were not alone.  Woodstock started a potent movement that changed the world.

 

Michael Lang and Woodstock issued a resounding statement that there was a better way, a better way of thinking, of living:  Peace, Cooperation, Compassion, Understanding.... generating a spreading spirit that still lives on in millions of us,  a message that is extremely relevant right now.  

 

In his honor, we are re-streaming an updated version of our extraordinary interview with Michael.   In his gentle voice, you can sense the very special spirit that Michael possessed that could make even the most ambitious dreams come true.  When we talked, he was sitting on his front porch in the countryside near Woodstock.   You could hear the birds singing, an occasional car pass by — but mostly, peace…. the peace HE sought, and — hopefully — the peace he found.  

 

May he Rest in that Peace.